Never Forget
by Crowfeather's Dream
Summary: Just a tiny tribute to the day the unthinkable happened. But who ever said only the humans suffered?


**_September 11, 2001_**

Fursona, a pale grey kitty pet, watched the skies cloud with smoke. Suddenly, an alarm went off in the fire station. With a snort of contempt, she glared icily at every twoleg that raced past her. They were all clad in bright red pelts and big red things atop their heads. Her eyes widened with alarm, however, when she saw a young Dalmatian hound walking dutifully after them.

"Stripe!" she called out in fear, bounding over to his side. Why the spotted dog was called "Stripe", she never knew, but she didn't care. Maybe it was because of his unique personality, how he stood out from all the other dogs.

When Fursona had first arrived at the New York Fire Department, she had been mortal enemies with the newest recruit, a young puppy named Stripe. They got into little spats every time they bumped into each other, with Stripe barking and Fursona snarling. Had the twolegs not been there to break it up every time, there would have been fights.

Then, one morning, through some unspeakable agreement, the unlikely pair had settled down. The fights suddenly stopped. At first, the grey she-cat was not overly-friendly with the enthusiastic pup, but as time melted slowly away, the old hostilities vanished and the two had become inseparable. Fursona had even become relaxed enough to teach Stripe, who was growing rapidly, the cat language. When old enough, Stripe had tried to teach her Dog, but Fursona had stubbornly refused. She claimed that her mind was already muddled enough without the barking and growling of Dog lodged in her head.

Stripe, now a large, yet still young, Dalmatian, returned her worried glance with calm eyes.

"You know I have to, Fursona," he spoke softly. His knowledge of Cat was fluent; if one heard him speak in a pitch-dark night, they would never guess he was a dog. "This is my job. Don't worry about it, sweetheart," he added with a roguish, dog-like grin as he used his pet name for the kitty pet. "They'll probably send me into ground floor, nothing higher than that. I'll take a quick peek for twolegs as always and then slip out again, quick as a speeding car on the highway."

"Speeding car, hmm?" Fursona said, forcing her whiskers to twitch. "Just don't let the police, or anything worse, catch you, mister speed."

Stripe flicked one of his floppy ears and did not respond, but leaped into the back of one of the fire trucks. One of the twolegs rested its paw on the dg's head, and Stripe whined softly, licking it. The twoleg responded by scratching him behind the ears before turning to another twoleg with a harsh shout.

"Be back before mealtime!" Stripe barked happily to Fursona as the trucks began to pull out of the station, sirens blaring. Fursona watched as they disappeared around a bend in the road, knowing they were headed to where the smoke was at it's thickest. Her whiskers drooped, and she sent a quick prayer to StarClan, hoping her friend would be alright.

Fursona's mother had taught her about StarClan, claiming to have been a forest warrior who followed the ancient code that was laid down by the warrior ancestors who were StarClan. She said they were a group of cats who had passed on from earth, who watched over all cats that still walked the land.

_Please watch over Stripe, now, even though he is not your own, _Fursona begged. _Please keep him safe._

**_September 11, 2006_**

Fursona padded wearily down the city streets. In her mouth was a drooping, white flower.

A thin, cold rain came down from the skies, as it had always done on this day, as if the StarClan for humans was weeping for all that had been lost not so long ago. But it seemed like eternity.

_StarClan! _Fursona spat to herself, her heart swirling with contempt and hate. _If they truly existed, they wouldn't have let Stripe die that day! _

The young dog was gone, his life wasted like so many other twolegs'. Fursona, if it was possible, hated the twolegs more than she hated StarClan. It was their fault all this had happened. She wished there were no twolegs in the world. No greed, no power, no corruption. Just peace and prosperity, like it was always meant to be.

Life at the station had taken a turn for the worse the past few years. The twolegs had never gotten another dog, so Fursona was their sole mascot, though the humans never paid her any mind. It had been too quiet since Stripe's death, too sad. She missed her outgoing, rambunctious friend.

Despite all her hatred towards twolegs, she felt slightly guilty for taking the pure white flower from a bouquet of flowers that was meant for one of the dead firefighters. But she would put it to good use.

Ignoring the curious glances from twolegs, who were all curious about the flower-carrying cat, she slipped expertly through the forest of legs. When she came to the wall surrounding Ground Zero, she padded alongside it, looking for a hole in the wall she knew that was there. When she came to it, she slipped through silently, though not unnoticed. The minute her tail vanished through the small crack, the twolegs began to bawl and wail about the cat who was intruding on the sacred remains of what was once one of the most famous buildings in the world. But Fursona did not care.

Her eyes clouded as she gazed over the rubble and ash that had still not yet been cleared away, and the American flag stood along in the center of debris. It looked sad in the rain, and yet, with every slight breeze, the flag would flutter, as if saying, "Don't worry. I will always watch over them."

She leaned out and dropped the white flower on a pile of ash. The white petals began to stain black, its innocent colors tainted with the sadness and pain that lay heavily on the ground.

As she turned to exit Ground Zero, a wisp of shadow caught her eye. It looked...almost like a dog. As she watched it slowly fade away, she heard distant barking.

_Probably some crazy mutt a twoleg forgot to pen up,_ she thought. But even as the words stretched through her mind, all her doubts began to disappear. The rain lightened up and then vanished altogether. The sun peered out behind the storm clouds, timidly at first, and then boldly, shooing the angry thunderclouds away like a mother would do to children she caught out of bed.

_Don't forget about us. Believe, Fursona, believe! _A voice whispered softly in her ear.

The kitty pet turned to go, but before she disappeared into the city again, she lifted her head to the brightening sky. The words she spoke seemed to stop time:

"Oh, don't worry. I'll never forget."

XxXxXxXx

**This was just a little one-shot tribute to all those who suffered on September 11th. Fursona represents the ones who survived and still grieve for the ones who did not. Stripe represents all who tragically died that fateful day.**


End file.
